Michele Chynoweth's Blog, page 16

Eyes on the Prize

Easter Joy…how quickly I can forget even a week later as hurts,  frustrations and weariness cloud my thoughts and feelings. Little things – something someone said to hurt me, something I worked hard on not recognized, feeling overworked or overwhelmed – can feel like splinters or thorns, like one step forward, two steps back – and I forget to focus on the positive things in my life, how far I’ve come, and the big picture: that we are all striving to get to heaven one day, where God has saved a place for us.  I can’t help but think of the apostles, all hiding in a room together after Jesus died, afraid, targets on their backs, without their leader. The picture was painted so well by the TV movie last Easter, “A.D. The Bible Continues” in which the apostles, even Peter and Paul, argued over what to do and where to go after Jesus’ death. Here they had seen the Lord in person, were witnesses to His resurrection, and they too still let petty personality differences and their fears get in the way. Yet through their trials and tribulations, they kept working hard to spread the Word and build the Kingdom, knowing their reward would be eternal life with God. St. Paul refers often in his writings to life here on earth as running a race, reminding us to keep our eyes on the prize.  “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2), and “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14). We each have our own race to run, our own crosses to bear. Sometimes it seems like it’s too hard, there’s too far to go in too little time, other people get in the way, I’m falling behind, I’ll never get there. That’s when I just have to keep putting one foot in front of another and focus on the real finish line.

Passion

Last night’s television production of “The Passion Live” on Fox was strange and wonderful, at times contagious and very moving, and caught much of America’s attention last night, including mine. It reminds me that Jesus’s story is very much alive today. Coupled with the fact that, count ’em, four faith-based movies are in theaters now, I feel very encouraged to continue to write novels based on Bible stories because I can see there is a growing passion, even among young people, for returning to our roots in the Scriptures and then applying its meaning in our lives today. I think we could all see glimpses of ourselves last night in Judas, Peter and the other apostles, Mary and even Pontius Pilate as they sang modern songs that resonated with how they were feeling as Jesus’ Passion played out – and how we feel this week as we hear the stories again. I couldn’t help but hear a song in my head from another musical based on the Passion, “Jesus Christ Superstar” when the disciples sang,  “What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a happening…” I think I would have wanted to be front stage and center for the action, making history back then. But would I have had the courage to stand up for my friend if it meant being arrested too, or would I have pretended I didn’t know him (like Peter)? Would I be anxious about the days to come, or simply be content to live in today, having faith that God’s got this as Jesus does in Luke 22:42 on the Mount of Olives as he knows he’s about to be taken a prisoner: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” It was startling and brilliant, I thought, that police officers led Jesus away in handcuffs with the two other criminals and then he came back in orange prison garb. It made it real in today’s times, which is what I hope to do with my novels. We need to encourage each other to feel passionate about our faith and our purpose, but stay grounded in today, like Jesus sings back to the disciples in the JCS song, “What’s the Buzz?” which paraphrases the Gospel: “Don’t you mind about the future, don’t you try to think ahead, save tomorrow for tomorrow think about today instead.” I hope you all have a passionately joyful Easter week!

An Irish Blessing for You

Proud to be a wee bit Irish from my paternal grandmother,

may God rest her soul! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Rainy days and Mondays…

Some Monday mornings are harder than others…sometimes we feel too tired or downhearted to face the day. After pulling my back and spending a weekend trying to rest (which is quite difficult for me, always with so much to do),  I woke up feeling this way, and the loss of an hour of sleep (daylight savings time) and dreary winter scenery outside – bare trees, dark gray sky and a steady rain falling – didn’t help.  I believe it’s times like these we especially need to turn to God and ask for his strength. I took a few minutes to do that…and I then felt a renewed energy and a small voice said, “go, get to work, it will all be ok.” So for all of you out there who may be feeling downtrodden today, I offer you the song “We Will Rise Again” written by David Haas (just click on photo to hear it) that always brings me to joyful tears with beautiful lyrics taken from Isaiah 40:1-31: “Like a shepherd I will feed you; I will gather you with care. I will lead you and hold you close to my heart.  I am strength to the weary; to the weak I am new life. Though the young may grow weary, I will be their hope.  (Refrain) We will run and not grow weary, for our God will be our strength, and we will fly like the eagle, we will rise again. Lift up your eyes, and see who made the stars. I lead you, and I know you, I call you each by name. Fear not, I am with you; I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; uphold you with my hand.” No matter what I hope you have a blessed day!

 

Fighting for our faith…

Have you seen the movie “Spotlight?” You know, the one that won the Oscar for Best Picture? I talked my husband into watching it with me over the weekend despite his misgivings. I’m an Oscar fanatic – I try to watch as many films up for awards before the big night as possible so I can make “informed decisions” during the Academy Awards show (my favorite of the year). Of course Spotlight was the one movie I didn’t see beforehand (so it figures it won.) While I wouldn’t say Spotlight deserved to win Best Picture, I do think it was well done – and it did give you plenty to think about, if not fire up serious doubts about the Catholic Church that you may or may not have had already. If you don’t know, it’s about the Boston Globe’s investigation into the scandal of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and the cover up of it by various officials of the Church. While it’s hard to argue against the fact that the Church and its representatives hurt a lot of people, I find myself still defending my Catholic faith, even in the wake of the movie. Easy for me to say, I’m not a victim? Not really, because I was (although my case involved a Catholic school teacher). It took a long time for me to forgive and reconcile myself with God, my faith and the Church. Sometimes it’s easier to blame others or hold onto anger and resentments. But I know if I do I’m only hurting myself further. While seriously flawed at times, I still believe the Church is God’s house, both physically and spiritually, that it was given to us by Jesus Christ, and it still does a lot of good in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m failing at that defense when I debate with others, but when I find myself “fighting” internally, like I did after the movie, I realize my faith wins. As humans, not robots, we are meant to question and challenge, not just live in blind faith…it helps us grow. And often I find my faith gets even stronger when tested.   “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold.” (1 Peter 1:7) Like anything in life, I believe instead of focusing on the problems, we need to focus on solutions…to not turn away but to help build the Church and the Kingdom.

A Second Chance…

Our God is a God of second chances. And because He is, so too must we be if we are to reflect his love. My husband and I are being put to the test on this, as my son is moving back home with us today. We had asked him to leave when he couldn’t follow our rules. We’re not sure if things – if he – has changed. I think he’s grown up a little perhaps but I know in my wise old age that growing up is a lifelong process and he’s only been gone for a few  years. We’ve been told the move is only temporary, but still it’s hard. Just like it was hard when my step-daughter moved out for similar reasons and then moved back home after a year away. But our relationship grew as a result and I can only hope for the same this time too. Jesus told us this parable:  “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. If not, then cut it down.’” In the story we see God gives us a chance to change. Of course if we don’t change we are eventually “cut down.” If you’re faced, like I am, with the challenge of giving someone another chance, I pray that by giving it, we do God’s will by helping that person change and grow.

 

Scary and Exciting!

I’ve been finding myself saying things are getting “scary and exciting” a lot lately…my book coming out, going to the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville this week to “pitch” my book into a movie and make good connections, moving toward getting my novels on the New York Times Bestseller List, etc. etc. I also found myself saying, the more you know and do, the more you have to know and do. In other words, the more work, the more work. Which is also scary and exciting! I guess the bottom line is the closer we feel we get to realizing our dreams and fulfilling our potential (and living God’s Will) the further we see we have to go. But when my heart starts beating fast and my schedule begins overloading and I get that feeling of being overwhelmed, I remind myself I need to consider the alternative…not moving closer means staying stuck and “faith without works is dead.” And I also realize I need to remember “with God all things are possible,” and to take things “one day at a time.” All of these quotes are paraphrases for wise words in the Bible given to us by God. And that’s the real bottom line for me when things get scary and exciting; I need to make more time for God and for reading His Word, not less, because I will need His help, His providence, His favor if I am to keep meeting life’s challenges and putting one foot in front of the other. Take a deep breath with me…breathe in faith and breathe out fear. Again. That’s it. Now I need to go schedule a time-out with God. I’m sure it will pay off!

30 Seconds of Guilt…

I’ll never forget the words of a priest on a women’s retreat I attended years ago at in Malvern, PA: “Spending more than 30 seconds of guilt is a waste of time.” We as Catholics, Christians, people with morals, moms, dads, kids…all struggle with feelings of guilt from time to time. Just recently I was allowing myself to wallow a lot longer than 30 seconds in feeling guilty over disappointing someone because I made an innocent mistake and plans changed. I had no ill intentions…and the other person, while disappointed, wasn’t angry and probably let it go long before I did. What did my guilt accomplish? It robbed me of precious minutes (which can turn into hours and sometimes days) that could better be spent focusing on helping others, doing God’s Will, being joyful. Fortunately I remembered the priest’s words (after a good friend of mine reminded me that guilt is a waste of time) and I moved on to being useful again. Guilt is often self-centered and a form of fear, just like its evil step-sisters–self-pity, stress and worry. And we know fear is the opposite of love. The theme of the retreat, by the way, was finding your “pearl of great price,” which Jesus likens to the Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospel of Matthew. Have you found your pearl? And if so, are you letting guilt or one of it’s counterparts block you from acquiring it? We are all human, all sinful and we all make mistakes and step on others’ toes. So how to avoid wasting time on guilt? The Bible tells us to take action. “Guilt (sin, iniquity) is banished through love and truth; evil is avoided by reverence for God.” (Prov. 16:6) The 12-Step program gives us Step 10: “continue to take personal inventory and when we are wrong promptly admit it.” The Steps and the Church give us the gift of confession as well. If you feel guilty about anything today or this week, I encourage you only allow yourself to feel guilty for 30 seconds only and then to promptly take action (if you can) or at least decide to take action in the future, talk to someone, talk to God and then let it go.  Life is too short and your time and energy to important to the world out there which so badly needs it.

Don’t Listen to Them…

Everyone is told “no, you can’t” during the course of their lives, from the age of two when your parents try to keep you from danger or discipline you,  through adulthood when perhaps you’ve been rejected…by a lover or spouse, employer or even a friend or family member. It can hurt…real bad. But I believe it’s how we deal with the rejection that counts. Maybe we can learn something or grow from the experience…whether it’s that we need to change, or that we need to be more careful, or sometimes, that we need to shake it off and move on. It can especially be hurtful if you’re pursuing a dream that you believe in with your whole heart and soul and someone, maybe even a close friend or family member, tells you “no, you can’t/shouldn’t/mustn’t” for whatever reason (“you’re not good enough/rich enough/who do you think you are?”) Jesus, his disciples and many prophets throughout the ages, faced this same rejection. “’Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ they asked. Jesus said to them… ‘Truly I tell you…no prophet is accepted in his hometown.’ They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.  But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” (Luke 4:14-30). He also told his disciples, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet’.” (Matt 10:14) Even if you are the only person who believes in  yourself and your dream, as long as you believe it is God’s Will, don’t listen to the naysayers…because you’re not alone with God on your side. 

Praying for God’s Guidance in Iowa…

As America enters, in Iowa today, the first of many opportunities our nation will face to elect our next US President, I simply wanted to stop for a minute – and ask you to do the same – to pray that God guides our hearts as we elect a leader who will do His Will…a President who is pro-life, pro-religious freedom and who cares about the welfare and future of all Americans and not just about himself or herself. There are several references and stories about “politics” in the Bible. In Samuel I (on which my book The Peace Maker is based) the people of Israel beg Samuel to ask God to give them a King like the other countries. (prior to that they’ve just had priests, prophets and judges). Samuel warns them that they don’t need a king, that God is their King, but they don’t give up so God gives them a king…in Saul, who ends up making poor choices and being a bad leader. Fortunately, he paves the way for King David and then King Solomon – better than Saul but also with their own faults. And then, of course, Jesus is eventually “sent” as the one true King. Still, to keep order we continue to elect leaders. Jesus reminds us in the Gospels to give to God what is God’s and give to “Caesar” (the government) what is Caesar’s. And St. Paul tells us we need to be mindful of authority. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Rom 13:1-7)  So I believe we shouldn’t simply ignore all of the politics…that we have a choice, a vote, and every vote counts…and we need to keep informed and keep praying about it. St. Paul tells us so: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (Tim 2:1-2) So let’s all pray for Iowans today to follow not only their hearts but God’s Will as they begin the process.